Answer garden and the organization of expertise

Answer

Garden and

the

Organization

of Expertise

Mark

S.

Ackerman

January, 1992

WP

#

81-92

INTERNATIONAL

CENTER

FOR

RESEARCH ON

\/IANAGEMENT

OF

TECHNOLOGY

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School offy/lanagement

The

International

Center

for

Research

on

the

Management

of Technology

Answer

Garden and

the

Organization

of Expertise

Mark

S.

Ackennan

January, 1992

WP

#

81-92

Sloan

WP#

3408-92

CCS TR#

127

©

1992MassachusettsInstitute of

Technology

SloanSchool of

Management

MassachusettsInstitute of

Technology

38

Memorial

Drive, E56-390

Abstract

Answer

Gardenfacilitatesthebuildingofan organizational

memOTy

for

commonly

asked

questionsandtheiranswers.

The

systemincludesaneasy-to-usesetofinformation

retrievalengines,including a branchingnetworkof diagnostic questions.Iftheanswerto

the user'sneedisnot presentinthedatabase, thesystemautomatically routes the question

to theappropriate

human

expert,andtheanswerisreturned to theuser as well as inserted

intothebranchingnetwork anddatabase.

This researchpaperpostulates thatthemajororganizati(xialandsocialinnovationswith

Answer

Gardenincludechangingtheinformation seeking behaviorinan organization, buildingan organizationalmemory, andallowing firmsto bettercoordinateand

manage

theirintellectual assets. In addition, thispaper presents abrief

summary

of the technical

Answer Garden

Expertiseiseverywhereinacompany. Eachperson hashisorher

own

areasofskilland knowledge. Butfew companiescaneffectivelyandefficiently

manage

this critical

resource.

Answer

Gardenisboth atechnical artifact(i.e.,aparticularsystem)andaproposed solution toasetof organizational problems.

Answer

Gardenisinteresting,Iwillargue, becauseittouches (andoffersonepossiblesolution in thespaceof)theorganizational issuesof finding therightexpert,growingorganizationalknowledge and

memory,

and managingthe intellectualpropertyofthe firm. Theseorganizationalissuesarerecentiy

attracting

new

attention,especiallywiththeimminent"wiring"ofmostcorporations,and

theycould wellbecriticalfactorsforfirmsin thenext years (Stewart 1991).

This paper discusses

Answer

Gardenasa technologicalartifactandintermsofitspotential effects.^ 1willpresent

Answer

Gardenas technologicalartifactfirst,largelybecausethat willgroundthe restof

my

presentation.

The

argumentsfor

why Answer

Gardenis

interesting(andthatitshould bestudied)follow.

'Thesepoieniia] effects are currentlybeinginvestigated intwofield studiesofAnswerGarden.

1:

What

is

Answer Garden?

Let

me

stanthedescriptionof

Answer

Garden byofferingafew

common

organizational

situations:

•

You

havejust travelledtoa foreign country.

Dimly

you renaember thattheformtofillout forreimbursementisdifferent

What

form

shouldyoufillout?

•

You

cannot getyourMIS-approvedwordprocessor towraptextin 2 columns belowabannergraphic.

Where

do youfindtheanswer toyourspecificproblem?

•

You

areworkingona proposalforyourconsultingcompany.

You

suspectyouarenot theonlyperson

who

hasdonethistypeof

proposalinyourcompany.

How

do youfindthe otherpeoplethat haverelevant expertise?

Allof thesesituationshavesome

common

attributes:

They

areallsituationswherethereis a

commonly

asked question.Theyrequire pointerstoinformation.

The

pointers

may

beto

people ortodataandtext,but theyareallpointersthattheinformationseekerdoesnot have. Moreover,thequestions as awholeare unpredictableand

new

toeachindividual,

buttothe organization,theyare repetitious.Finally,theyareallsituations that are

dynamic;theinformationcanchangeorbe modifiedrapidly.

Answer

Gardenaddressesthistypeof organizational problem.

Sampleimplementation

Answer

Garden (Ackerman andMalone1990) hasbeenimplementedinC, the

X

Window

System, andUnix.2Itcurrendyrunsonawidevarietyofhardwareplatforms.

The

^Thereisanotherimplementation ofAnswer Garden doneinObjectLens byKum-YcwLai. Answer GardendatabasesinObjectLensconcern ObjectLensitselfanditsfileserver.TheObject

Lensversionisbasedonand generally followsthisimplementation.Therewasalsoanearlier

sampledatabasethatwillbe describedbelowisabout

how

touse the

X

Window

System

itself.3

Answer

Gardenutilizes

some

standardtechnologiesina

new

andintegratedmanner. I

havenotbeenableto findsystemslike

Answer

Gardenintheliterature,althoughcleaiiy

thereareprecedents(e.g.,fromhypermedia,Conklin1987,Walker1987,

Wcycr

and

Homing

1985,

Campagnoni

andEhrlich 1989, MarchioniniandShneiderman1988;from communicationsystems, HiltzandTuroff 1981,

Raebum

ctal.1989;fromhelp systems,

Coppeto, Anderson, and Geer1989;andfrominformationretrievalsystems, Salton 1989,

Dumais

etal.1988,

Egan

etal.1989).

The

end-userstarts

Answer

Garden

when

hehas a problem.Running onanormal

X

workstation (such as aSunor DECstation), the user beginshissessionwith a screenthat

lookslikeFigure1(following page).

As Answer

Gardenstartsup,heispresentedwith a simple Control panelthatoffershim twoselections.

Ifhechoosesthe"AskQuestions",

Answer

Gardenlaysout aseriesofquestionnodesin

ordertodiagnosiswhattheuser needs. Itissimilar to thesystemplaying the

game

"TwentyQuestions."

The

usertraverses thequestion nodes,selectingtheappropriate buttonwithhismouse. Figure2showsthescreenaftertheuserhas selected several questions. In thiscase,theuserisinterested infinding outsomethingaboutthepackages thatthesitesuppons.

The

X

WindowSystemisadefactostandardforUnixworkstations.ItwasdevelopedatMIT, and

is"owned"bytheMIT

X

Consortium. TheMIT

X

Consortium, while headquarteredat the

LaboratoryforComputerScience,isanindustryconsortium.

^Thereisanadditionalinformation database about an x-ray astronomyapplication available(and

Computer-sophisticated users can alsoselectthe"ViewTree" option,and

Answer

Garden

providestheuser withatreeofthepossiblebranches.*

The

"..."indicatorinsonoetree

itemsindicatesthereisa subtree aswell.

Hgure

3showsasituationwherethe userhas selectedthe

Answer

Gardentree,andthen selectedaspecificanswer. (Itisthe

same

answer he would haveselectedfromthe diagnostic questionseries.) Answers cancither

bespecificpiecesof information(as inFigure3),or theycan be

more

generalgroupingsof

opinions,tutorials,and code examples(for thisdatabase).Inaddition,thereisamethod for theexperttogatherwholecollectionsofquestionsand answersinone nodeasa

way

of doingdiagnosticpre-structuring.

Iftheuserdoesnotunderstand a question or cannot findtheanswertohisquestion,he can selectthe"I'm

Unhappy"

buttonfrom anynode. Thispopsupa mailer (Figure4).

The

userthenaskshisquestion. Noticethatthenodeexpertis

anonymous

fortheuser.

The

headerfor the electronicmailmessageisreplaced beforebeingsentwith theelectronicmail addressfor thecorrectexpenorsetof expens, a userhistoryso the expertcandetermine

wheretheuserhasbeen andseen,as wellasother,miscellaneous information.

Once

theuserhas asked a question,thequestionisroutedtotheappropriate

human

expert The

human

expertcananswerthequestionfor the user,andifitisa

commonly

asked question,hecan alsoinserttheanswerintheinformation database.

As

well,theexpertcan addanydiagnosticquestionsthathefeelsmightbe necessary.

Answer

Gardenthusprovides amechanismforgrowingabodyof information. (Hence

thename.) Bothexpertsandusersperformtheirnormalduties. Usersmust browsethe

Answer

Gardendatabase before asking a question, butin turn,they gettofind the correct

expert. Expertsmuststructurethedatabase, butinturntheyget to ridthemselvesof

commonly

asked questions.

A

briefdescriptionofthe internal architectureof

Answer

GardenisgiveninAppendix A.

^Thenodesareactually laidoutina network, butthenetworkisprojectedintoatreeforthe

convenience ofthe user.Tobemoreprecise, the netwoiicisadirected,non-cyclicalgraph.There isnointernalrequirementthatthegraphbenon-cyclical.Nonetheless, diagnostic questions should

notbecyclical,and one oftheauthoringsuitepackages(tobe described below) searchesfcM^

2:

Why

should

anyone be

interested in

Answer Garden?

Inand ofitself,

Answer

Gardenappearstobea valuable

new

technology for

many

situations,anditcarries interestforseveraltechnology researchareas. Itprqx>ses solutionsfor thehypenextpublishingproblem(DtcxIct1988)andthehypertextnavigation

andlocationproblems(Uttingand Yankelovich1989, MarshallandIrish1989,

Hammond

andAllinson 1988).

The

technology suggests amethod ofdealingwith updatinganderror

inanyinformation system, especially afull-textor semi-structured database. Inaddition,it

offersanexamination ofdistributedauthoringandpublishing.

In addition.

Answer

Gardencanbeviewedas anexperimental apparatus forexamining

some

important organizationalandsocialresearchareas.

Answer

Garden,aseithera

CSCW

oranITsystem,willbe usedinasocialenvironment

Answer

Garden,in this sense,isatoolby whichtoexaminethepresentsociologyofanorganizationandits informationenvironment,aswellas

some

organizationalpossibilities. Inthissense.

Answer

Gardenoffers possibilities fora combinationofsocialandtechnicalresearch.

Ihavepreviouslydescribedonepossibilityfor social-technicalresearch,namely,

how

expertsandusers mightinteract:

-

Answer

Garden might changethecoordinationof theinteraction betweenexpen andinformationseeker.

As

mentioned, the users

must browseadatabase,butcan findthe rightperson ofwhichto

asktheirquestion.

The

expertsmuststrucmretheinformation database, but they canget ridof

commonly

asked questions.

Thisissueisthe interactionbetweentheindividualuser, the expert,andthetechnology.

Anothersocial-technicalresearchthemeconcernsitselfwith theinteractionbetweenthe

technologyandtheorganization:

-

Answer

Garden mightprovidethe ability to easilybuildan organizational repositoryofinformation.

One

termforsuch a repositoryisan organizationalmemory.

In addition,thereisoneotherinteractionbetweenthetechnologyandtheorganization. In

thiscase,

Answer

Gardenservesnotonlyasapotential solutionbut also as amechanism forexamining what1believeisan understudied area ofresearch:

- Itmightbettertietogetherthe intellectual assetsoftheconq)any.

Thatis,itmightenable peopletomoreeasilyfindthe

human

expertiseof the organization(aswellas thecomponents of any

organizationalmemory).

Iwilldealwitheach oftheseresearchthemesin turn.

Expert-Seeker Interaction

Answer

Gardenisan attempttoaugmenttheinteractionbetweentheinformationseekerand

the

human

expertsinan organization. Istresstheaugmentationinoppositiontoa possible

mechanizing systemsuch as(Gwei and Foxley1990).

Answer

Garden doesnotattemptto

replacethe

human

expertintheinfonnation channel;instead,itattemptsto facilitate his

effectiveusebytheorganization.

Inordertounderstandthat use,

we

mustfirstask ourselveswhattheinteractionbetween theexpertandtheinfomiationseekeris.

The

informationseeking researchliteratureis quitelarge. (See Allen 1969,Crawford1978,DervinandNilan 1986,and

Hewins

1990 for partialreviews.)Iwillnotattempttosurvey thelargenumberof informationretrieval systemstudiesandof general populationstudies,instead focussingonthosestudiesof

engineers'informationseeking behavior. Thesestudies,particularlythosebyAllen, are

among

themostdetailedexamination of infonnation seekingin particular settings.

Among

his

many

findings,Allen (Allen 1977) notedthatengineers'majorsource of informationwasdirectcontactandcommunicationwith colleagues. Hisfindingof the impact of gatekeepers, engineers

who

maintained contacts outside the group,on performanceiswellknown. Additionally,hefoundthatengineersseldomusedtheformal

literature,althoughtheinformalliterature(trade

magaancs

andthe like)were used

extensively.Forthesetworeasons,informationretrievalsystems,whichusuallyfacilitate

disseminationoftheformalliterature,heldlittlepromiseinAllen's opinion.

Gerstberger (GerstbergerandAllen 1968), also reportedin(Allen 1977) noted

some

ofthe reasons

why

engineerswouldnotgotocolleagues,andinsteaduse other information channels.Gerstenfeldinhisstudyof 19 engineersfoundthattheychosenottogothe channelofthehighestquality for technicalinformation,butrather togoto thechannelof highestaccessibility(i.e.,lowest psychologicalcost). Allenarguedthatthepsychological

Some

of

my

workwith software engineers extendsthis. Basedoninterviewswith28

software engineers, infonnation seekingisdoneina highlychargedsocialcnvironmenL

Informationseekers, likemostpeople, prefergoingtopeople

who

willbefriendly-either

because theyare trustedorjustbecause theyarcpereonableindividuals.

They

are acutely

aware ofthe status trade-offsinvolvedinsuchaninfonnaticMi-seckingscssirai.Asking

questionsabout a

new

areaisnot unlikeasking questionsuponentryintotheorganization (MillerandJablin1991);itis felttobedangeroustoappear"stupid."Askingquestions about an areathatyouaresupposedto

know

can be

m^e

fraughtwith subjective danger. Furthermore, information seekersarealsoquiteawareof theskilllevelsofpotential

answers.

They

donotviewthe interactionasa novice-expertinteractionwhere anyexpert

canbesubstitutedforanyotherexpert Instead,they areawarethatvarious individuals

havedifferentexpertise,andaparticularrangeof expertiseatthat Thesepointsaremore

importantin latersections,and1willreturn tothem.

Inanotherdirection,studiesoftheexpert-noviceinteractionby

CHI

researchersfocussed

largelyonadviser-adviseesituations,demonstratingthecomplexity oftheexpen-seeker interaction. Forexample. Pollack (Pollack 1985) studied 13 users (16 email dialogues) seeking information about a mail system. She foundthattheuser-expertinteractiondidnot simply provide answers.For example,inonesituation,the sideeffectofthequery

was

to

havetheexpen

move

oldmessagestoan archivefilesotheprogramwouldloadfaster. In

50%

of the dialogues,theuser did notunderstandthenatureofhisquestion,andtheexpert

wasforcedtosupplyalternatives,inferthecorrectquestion,oraskforadditional information. CarrollandAaronson (Aaronson andCarroll1987a,Aaronson andCarroll

1987b,Aaronson andCarroll1987c, Carrolland

McKendree

1987)foundsimilarresults.

What

can

we

learnfromallof thesestudies todesignsystemsthathelpadvice seekers?

The

mostimportant pointisperfiaps thata technologicalsystemtoreplacealltheabilitiesof

human

expenswouldbe quitedifficult. Second, a technologicalsystemshouldtryto

reduce

some

ofthe difficultiesofthe

human

communicationsystem,perhapsbyeasing the

ability tofindthe rightexperttoask,byreducingthe statusimplicationsof asking a question,orbyenablingthearchivingof

common

materials.

Answer

Gardencanchangetheexpert-seekerinteraction.

One

ofthemoreinteresting

questionsistowhatextentusers will substitute

Answer

Gardenforother information channels.

From

theresearch,Iexpecttwopossibilities.

The

first isthat

Answer

Garden

engineerwillbewilling togotoacomputer-basedinformatiOTisource

when

thereare not

theusual information channels. This

may

bemorelikely

when

thesubjectareaisafrontier area; thatis,onethatistoo

new

tobe well-known,or

when

thepersonisgeographicallyor otherwise information isolated

The

secondpossibility,however,includestfiesubjectivenatureoftfieexpeit-seeker

interaction.

Answer

Garden

may

beof great use

when

theInfcHtnatiOTseekerisafraid to

ask a questionfor fearof losingsubstantial status. For anengineer,thismightinvolve a questionsuitabletoa beginnerinthefield. Ibelievethat

Answer

Gardenwillbe used

more

when

the questionisnaive, beginning, orfelttobelabelled"stupid."

Interestingly,themotivations for thetwopossibilitiesmentionedaboveare quitedifferent. Accordingtotheformer, a usermightwanttouse

Answer

Gardenbecausethereisno one

around; accordingtothelatter,a usermightwanttouseasystemsuch as

Answer

Garden

becausethere aretoo

many

experts around. Itisnot clear

how

thiswillbeplayed outby theresearchsubjects.

OrganizationalKnowledge andOrganizational

Memory

A

good proponionof thetrulyimportant information...is,however,

published within the organization, and, forthisreason, the informal

documentation systemofhisparent organizationisan extremely important sourceof information fortheengineer. (Allen, p.41)

The

resultof organizational learningis

some

form oforganizationalknowledge.

Organizationalknowledgehasbeendefined as supra-individualknowledge (Walsh1989),

andincludesandsurpassestheknowledgeof individualsin thatorganization(Pentiand 1991).

As

such,informationseekingcan beconsidered as the process of finding theright

organizationalknowledge.

Variousanempts have been

made

to extract theknowledge froman organizationinto computerorarchivalmedia. This stored or archived organizationalknowledgehas also

beentermed organizationalmemory. Yates (Yates 1988, Yates 1990) describesseveral fonnsofthis,forexamplethewritten

memo

storedin verticalfiles.

Walsh

and

Ungson

(Walsh and

Ungson

1991) arguefora5level storeoforganizationalknowledgeas organizationalmemory.

To some

extent,both organizationalknowledge andorganizationalmcrooTyserve best as metaphors. Thereis,within organizations, aproblem ofcapturinginformationandstoring it Dataprocessingsystemsdothis foraccounting infoimation.

What

Finholt (Finholt 1990) terms formalcommunicationsiscapturedindocumcntatiai.

Answer

Gardenaddressesthreeissuesof organizaticmalmemory. First,itisoftenfliccase

tfiatinformal informationisimportant.

Members

needtounderstand proceduralknowledge

andworic-arounds. Second,the informationinarchivalforms,suchas documentation,is oftenwrong,andtherearefew waysto correctthemoreventocommunicatetheneedfor

their correction.Third,itisdifficultto getorganizational

members

toformulatelarge amountsof information,whichleavesmostorganizationalknowledgeunwritten.

Answer

Gardenshould ameliorate these problems. Iexpecttofindthatuseofthe

Answer

Gardenwill result inthedevelopmentof an information database adequateforfinding solutionsto

commonly

asked questions. This

may

seema tautology, considering the designof

Answer

Garden. However,ifitisnoteasytobuildan information databasein

the

Answer

Gardenorifthere are insufficientmotivationstodoso,then thesystemwillnot

grow.

Inaddition,the

Answer

Gardeninformation database shouldgrowiteratively,as usersask

questionsaboutanswersthatare incomplete or nonexistent.

Answer

Garden'smost interestingfeatureisthedesignassumptiontiiat flieinformationdatabase shouldhavetfie

capabilityofgrowingovertime.Iexpectthisfeature tobeutilized;however,other

possibilities exist. Forexample, experts

may

chooseto

grow

thedatabaseindependentlyof

questions. Or, information seekersmightlookatonlythepre-existinginformation,andnot ask questions. (Oneinterestingpreliminary findingisthatpeopleseemtoneedacertain size"seed"databaseinorderto feelasflioughsomeonewillanswertheirquestion.)

Both oftheseproblemsexist inhypertext publishing.

The

hypertext

community

has debatedtherequired incentivesforbuilding alargecorpusofinformation(thehypertext publishingproblem). In addition,hypertextdatabases(aswellasmostoflierinformation databases, includingfull-text)sufferfromnot havinganeasy

way

tocorrectflieir information.

ExpertiseNetworks

In

many

situations,a

new

technology providesan opportunity for taking a

new

lookat

existingsituationsandallowsonetosee old

phcnanena

in

new

ways.

As

Hutchinswrites:

"Many

instances of"Aha!"insightoccur

when

aproblemexpressedinone

way

is

re-representedin another.... (Hutchins 1990,p.199)"

What

I willarguebelowisthat

Answer

Gardenprovidessuch an opportunity,andthe

phenomenon

inquestionisthe

communications netwoikof the organization.

Another

way

toview

Answer

Gardenisintermsof organizationalexpertise.Examining

organizational expertiseassumesthatorganizationalknowledgeis

embedded

inthe organization'sagents, either

human

orcomputerized.

Of

particular interestherearethe

human

agents, thepeopleinthe organization.Eachperson hashis

own

capabilities,both

insubjectmattersandinskilllevels.

As

such,theorganizationalaccessproblembecomes oneof findingthe right agent,probably

human

but possibly computer, through the

communications network ofthe organization. Organizational expertiseisa

YAOM^,

an

extensionofthe distributedcomputingmetaphor (Cammarata, McArthur, andSteeb 1988, Lesserand

Erman

1988).

Inthisview,toborrow Weick's (Weick1979) terminology, expertiseisenacted through thedoubleinteractsof information seekerandinformation source. Qcourel(Cicourel 1990)foundasimilarenactmentpatternwithmedical personnel. This enactedmeaning, partially historicalandpartially situational,enables bothparties tosuggest,defend,and developexpertise.

For example, oneinteractionpatternhasremained remarkablystableacrossorganizations studied(andeventechnical topics).Thisisthe"one-upmanship"conversation

among R«tD

software engineers similarto thatdescribedby Anderson (Anderson1978)in hisurban ethnography.

An

engineermight

make

atechnical assertion,andotherengineersmight

follow withfactualordesign challenges. Status,andthus recognition asanexpert(or relativeexpert),isgarneredbytheinitialparticipant's ability tocounter those challenges.

The

discussioncan

become

quite technicalandelaborate,andfurther statusisenabled through sophisticated claimsandcounterclaims.Topics,in fact,canshiftover several

hours, asparticipants essentiallyargueovertheir status positions.

A

personisallowed to

bean expertbythe willingagreement ofher colleaguesandaccordingtoheractions.

It is

my

argiimentthatorganizationalexpertiseisaffectednotonlybytheknowledge domains andskilllevelsofthe organization'sagents,but also thesocialsubnetworks

withintheorganization.

As

a usefulabstraction,omsider anagent'sexpertise asa multi-dimensionalclusterofskills. Thenthefilm'sexpertiseisamulti-dimensionalnetwork

made

of theseagents. Thisexpertisenetworkisthefirm'smanner oforganizingits

expertise. In "absolute" terms, thecompleteexpertisenetworkisthe

sum

totalofall possibleskills inthefirm. Itiswhatthefirmcould do,ifit

knew

whatall its

members

coulddo.

The

"actual"expertisenetworkisdependentonthecommunications network

withintheorganization. Indeed,itisdependenton communications subnttwoAs, ones

revolvingaroundparticularsubjectsofinterest,expertise,andsocial contacts.

Even

thoughtwoagentsmight havesufficientknowledge between themtosolve a problem,if theycannottalk-because theydon't

know

eachother,theyhaveno communications networkbetweenthem, orbecause theycan'tstandtobeinthesame

room

witheachother

-theorganizationcannot besaid tohavethecapacitytosolvetheproblem.

The

expenisenetworkisanindicationofthe firm'sorganizationofexpertise,

how

a firm arrangesitspersonnelandcomputerinformation resourcesinsuch a

way

astomaximize

suchcriticalsuccessfactorsasefficiency,innovation,or expertise sharing (Rockartand

Shon

1989). It

may

bearguedthat alteringtheorganizationofexpertisewithin thefirm,

throughdifferenttypesof

management

orthrough technological systems (such as

Answer

Garden),

may

alterthe firm's abilitiesandultimatelyperformance(Galbraith 1973).

Answer

Gardenwasdesignedto alterandtoaugmenttheexpertisenetworkwithinan

organization. Notonly

may

information seekers use

Answer

Gardentofindexpert information.

Answer

Garden can beusedtofindtheexpertsthemselves.

No

longerneed

theinformation seeker chain throughinnumerablesocialandprofessional contactsuntilhe

findsanexpert

Answer

Gardenshouldallow end-userstofindan expert fortheirproblem moreeasily. Inanenvironmentthatrequirescoordinationofknowledge andexpertisein

Summary

InhiscoverarticleinFortune,Stewartcouldhave beenwritingaboutthedesignpremises

behind

Answer

Gaiden:

Every

company

dependsincreasinglyon knowledge-patents,

processes,

management

skills,technologies, informationabout customersandsuppliers,andold-fashioned experience.

Added

together, thisknowledgeisintellectual capital. ...Inotherwords,it's the

sum

ofeverythingeverybodyinyour

con^any knows

thatgives

youa competitiveedgeinthemarketplace.

Suchcollectiveknowledgeishardto identifyandharderstilltodeploy effectively. But onceyoufinditandexploitit,youwin.(Stewart 1991,p.44)

Ihavedesignedandbuilt

Answer

Gardenasboth a technologicalartifacttoaugmentthe organization'sexpertiseandas an experimental apparatusforinvestigatingthisinformation environment.

Appendix

A:

Answer Garden

Architecture

Inthefollowingdescription,twoversionsof

Answer

Gardenare tobedistinguished.

Thereisa versionthatwillbeemployedinthe userstudy. Thisvcrsicmwillbesentout

on

the

MIT

X

11release5 "Contrib"tape. Additionally, therewillbeareleaseversionthat willincorporateany changes foundtobenecessaiyfromthefieldstudy,aswell as

some

additionalcomponents.

Internally,

Answer

Gardenlookslikeacollectionofseparate services heldtogetherbya

hasanywhere fromaslightly toaradically different interfacepresentation.

The

designof

Answer

Gardenissuchthat sitesrequiringadditionalpresentationstylesor separate objects

caneasilyaddtheir

own

(eachinwhatiscalleda Sorta-Object).

Inaddition.

Answer

Gardensupports(orcansupport)awidevarietyofinformaticm

retrievalengines.

The

diagnostic questions,

shown

above,canbethoughtofaretrieval

engineforcomputer-sophisticated, butdomain-naiveend-users. Thereisscxneevidence

thatproperlystructuredquestions

may

ease theburdenonnaive usersofformulating proper queries (Sebrechtsand Swartz1991). Otherengines includekeywordretrievaland

semi-structuredretrievals.

As

well.

Answer

Gardensupportstfieuseofa varietyof communicationengines.

Answer

Gardencurrendy supportstwostandardUnixelectronic mail packages, butinterfaces to

MITs

Zephyr synchronous communicationpackage, voice mail,andvideolinksareplanned.^

The

portionof the softwareshown aboveisactually justtheinterfacepresentedtothe

end-user. Usually,this"front-end"iscalledthe

Answer

Garden.

More

properly, there are

actually fivecomponents.

The

"front-end"interfaceiscombinedwithanauthoring subsystem. People authoring

new

informationnodesdosointhecontextofthe

Answer

Gardenitself. Therearc (or willbe) also

some

additionalauthoringtools,whichinthe

Unixstyleare stand-alone programs,to test fordangling referencesand node

completeness,tobuildthegraphertrees,andtocheckforpruning requirements.

AnswerGarden

"front-end" UI andinfodatabase

someone asks

Ina production system, a publish-subscribe serveranda question-answer tracking server

wouldberequired. Assuminga centralizedservice,usersites

who

wished

new

informationwould"subscribe"to

Answer

Gardenanswers.

They

would wanttodosoby

Answer

Gardensubtree sincethere willbe

many

subtreesthatarenotofinteresttoallsites.

As

expertsauthored

new

information,theywould sendtheanswers(andany

accompanyingdiagnostic questions) tothiscentralizedservice.

The

servicewould,then,in turn "publish" theanswerstothesubscribers.

The

question-answer tracking serverwould

login-comingquestions, lock questionsforindividualexperts,and

make

surethateach

questionisanswered. It istoemploya hand-shaking protocol similarto thatof

TCP-IP

but

implementedthroughelectronicmail.

A

prototypeofthelatterserverisbeingimplemented fortheuserstudyinObject Lens.

A

prototypeofthepublish-subscribe serverwillbebuilt for thereleaseversion;thereisno needforitintheuserstudy.

On

theend-usersiteside,asimpleprogramto

show

anyincoming

Answer

Garden answersisrequired.

Many

siteswillnot permitincomingfilestobeplacedin theirfile

systemwithoutthe ability tomanuallyoverride.

Of

particularconcernisthat

Answer

Garden answerscontaincodeexamples;thisraisesthesecurityhacklesofsite administrators.

Acknowledgements

Thiswork wassupported,in part,byresearch grantsfromthe

X

Consortium,Digital

EquipmentCorporation,theNational ScienceFoundation(GrantNos.IRI-8903034),and

the

MIT

InternationalFinancialServicesResearchCenter.

I

am

especiallygrateful to

Tom

Malone,without

whom

little,ifany,ofdiiswould have beenpossible. Iwouldalsolike tothank(inreverse-alphabeticalorder)

JoAnne

Yates,

Ralph Swick,DennisSchmidt, ChrisSchmandt, RobertSchiefler,JohnRoll,Paul

Resnick,

Mike

Plusch,Brian Pentland,

Wanda

Orlikowski, EricMandel,

Wendy

Mackay, DavidLewis,JintaeLee,Michael Morgan,

Debby

Hindus,

Dave

Hayes,Pat Haiidy,

StephenGuildea,

Mike

Epstein,

Donna

Converse,Geoff Bock,SterlingBarrett,Beth Anderson,and many,

many

other peopleat thevarious researchsites. (IfIhaveforgotten anyone,itisthe resultof

my

poor memory.)

They

havealloffered

many

trulyvaluable suggestionsandinsights.

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The International Center for

Research

on

the

Management

of Technology

Sloan

School of

Management

Massachusetts

Institute of

Technology

Working

Paper

List

Number

Date

Title

1-89 Netgraphs:

A

Graphic Representation of Adjacency ToolforMatrices asa

11/89 Networic Analysis

2-90 8/89

StrategicTransformationandtheSuccessofHighTechnologyG)mpanies

3-90 Managing

CAD

SystemsinMechanicalDesign Engineering 1/90(Rev. 3/91)

4-90 1/90 5-90

4/90

ThePersonalityandMotivationsofTechnologicalEntrepreneurs

CurrentStatusandFutureofStructuralPanelsin the

Wood

Products Industry

6-90

Do

Nonunated BoundarySpannersBecomeEffectiveTechnologicalGatekeepers?

6/90(Rev.7/91) 7-90 7/90 8-90 8/90 9-90 8/90

TheTrebleLadderRevisited:

Why

Do

EngineersLoseInterestintheDualLadder

asThey

Grow

Older?

TechnologicalDiscontinuities:The EmergenceofFiberOptics

Work

Environment, Organizational RelationshipsandAdvancementofTechnical

Professionals:

A

TenYear LongitudinalStudyin

One

Orgaiiization

10-90 8/90 11-90

8/90

PeopleandTechnology Transfer

ExploringtheDynamicsofDualLadders:

A

LongitudinalStudy

12-90 ManagingtheIntroductionof

New

ProcessTechnology: IntematioiudDifferences

8/90 ina Multi-PlantNetwork

13-90 TaskCharacteristicsandOrganizationalProblemSolvinginTechnological

8/90 ProcessChange

14-90 TheImpactof "StickyData"onInnovationandProblem-Solving 8/90

15-90 UnderinvestmentandIncompetenceasResponsestoRadical Iruiovation:Evidence 5/90 fromthePhotolithographicAlignmentEquipmentIndustry

16-90 Patterns ofCommunication

Among

Marketing,EngineeringandManufacturing

—

7/90

A

Comp

arisonBetween

Two

New

ProductTeams

Working

Paper

List(continued)

Number

Date Title

17-90 Age,Educationandthe TechnicalLadder

9/90(Rev.8/91) 18-90 1/90 19-90 4/90 20-90 6/90 21-90 7/90 22-90 23-90 8/90 24-90 9/90 25-90 11/90 26-90 10/90

A

ModelofCooperative

R&D

Among

Competitors

Strategy,Structure,andPerformanceinProduct Development: Observationsfrom theAutoIndustry

Organizing the TasksinComplexDesignProjects

The Emergenceofa

New

SupercomputerArchitecture

Supercededby39-91.

SoftwareComplexityandSoftware Maintenance Costs

LeadershipStyleandIncentives

FactoryConceptsandPractices inSoftwareDevelopment

GoingPublic: Sellthe SizzleortheSteak

27-90 EvolvingTowardProductandMarket-Orientation:TheEarlyYears of 11/90 Technology-Based Firms

28-90 TheTechnologicalBase ofthe

New

Enterprise 11/90

29-90 Innovation,Competition,andIndustryStructure

12/90(Rev.6/91) 30-91 1/91 31-91 1/91 32-91 1/91 33-91 6/91 34-91 5/91

Product StrategyandCorporate Success

CognitiveComplexityand

CAD

Systems:BeyondtheDraftingBoardMetaphor

CAD

System Use andEngineering PerformanceinMechanical Design

InvestigatingtheEffectivenessofTechnology-BasedAlliances:Patternsand

Consequencesof Inter-FirmCooperation

TheHighCentrality ofBoundarySpanners:

A

SourceofNaturalEfficiency in

OrganizationalNetworks Author(s) Allen Katz Sinha Cusumano CusumarK) Nobeoka Eppinger

Whitney

Smith Gebala Afuah Utterback Banker Datar Kemerer Zweig Rotemberg Saloner Cusumano Roberts Roberts Roberts Utterback Suiirez Roberts Meyer Robertson Ulrich Filerman Robertson Allen George Allen Ancona George Robertson

Working

Paper

List(continued)

Number

Date

Title

35-91 ImpactsofSupervisory Promotionai\dSodal LocationonSubordinate Promotioninan

2/91

RD&E

Setting:

An

Investigation ofDualLadders

(Rev.11/91) 36-91 1/91 37-91 2/91 38-91 3/91 39-91 3/91 40-91 3/91

Demography andDesign: Predictors of

New

Product

Team

Performance

The ChangingRoleofTeamsin Orgcuiizations:Strategies forSurvival

InformalAlliances:InformationTradingBetv\reenFirms

SupplierRelationsand Management:

A

Survey ofJapanese,Japanese-Transplant,

andUS. AutoPlants

Strate^cManeuvering and Mass-MaikelDynamics:The Triumphof

VHS

OverBeta

41-91 3/91

TheSoftv^are Factory:

An

EntryfortheEncyclopedia of SoftwareEngineering

42-91 DominantDesignsandtheSurvival of Firms 4/91(Rev.7/92)

43-91 6/91

45-91 3/91

An

EnvironmentforEntrepreneurs

44-91 TechnologyTrar\sferfromCorporate ResearchtoOperations:Effects

7/91 ofPerceptionsonTechnology Adoption

When

Speeding ConceptstoMarket

Can

Be a KCstake

46-91 ParadigmShift:From MassProductiontoMassCustomization 6/91

47-91 Computer AidedEngineeringandProjectPerformance: Maiiaging 8/91 aDouble-EdgedSword

48-91 TheMaricetingand

R

& D

Interface

10/91(Rev.2/92)

49-91 10/91 50-91

11/91

Systematic'Versus'Accidental'ReuseinJapaneseSoftwareFactories

FlexibilityandPerformance:

A

Literature CritiqueandStrategicFramework

51-91 ShiftingEconomies:

From

CraftProductionto FlexibleSystems 11/91 andSoftwareFactories

52-91 BeyondPersistence:UnderstandingtheCommitmentofPioneersinEmergingFields

12/91 of ScienceandTechnology

53-91 Institutional Variations inProblemChoiceandPersistence

among

12/91 Pioneering Researchers

Working

Paper

List(continued)

Number

Date Title

54-91 TheRoleofStudentsinPioneering

New

Fields of ScienceandTechnology 12/91 55-91 12/91 56-91 10/91 57-92 1/92 58-92 1/92 59-92 7/91 60-92 12/91 61-92 9/91 62-92 12/91 63-92 1/92 64-92 1/92 65-92 2/92 66-92 3/92 (Rev.9/92) 67-92 4/92

TechnologicalCommunities andthe DiffusionofKnowledge

TheVoiceoftheCustomer

TheInfluence of Inter-ProjectStrategyonMarket PerformanceintheAutoIndustry

LinkingInternationalTechnologyTraiisferwith StrategyandManagement:

A

LiteratureCommentary

Usingthe Literature intheStudyofEmergingFields ofScienceandTechnology

Technological ProgressandtheEhirationofContributionSpans

TechnologicalTrajectoriesandSelectionMechanismsintheDevelopmentof Cochlear Implants

On

the Persistence ofResearchersinTechnologicalDevelopment

Lifeonthe Frontier:

An

InternationalComparisonof Scientists inanEmergingField

TheSocialConstruction of TechnologicalReality

Core Competencies, Product FamiliesandSustained Business Success

Windows

OfOpportunity: Creating Occasions For Technological AdaptionInOrganizations

Puritan-Bennett

—

theRenaissance™Spirometry System: Listening

totheVoiceoftheCustomer

68-92 TimeFlies

When

You'reHavingFim:

How

ConsumersAllocateTheirTime

When

2/92 Evaluating Products (Rev.11/92) 69-92 7/92 70-92 5/92 71-92 9/92 72-92 10/92 73-92 10/92

MovingIdeastoMarketandCorporateRenewal

ProjectManagementinTechnologyhinovation,ApplicationandTransfer

InvestmentsofUncertain Cost

IdentifyingControllingFeatures of EngineeringDesignIteration

ObjectivesandContextofSoftwareMeasurement,AiialysisandControl

Author(s)

Rappa

Debackere

Rappa

Debackere Griffin Hauser Nobeoka Cusumano Cusumano Elenkov

Rappa

Garud

Rappa

Debackere Garud Garud

Rappa

Garud

Rappa

Debackere

Rappa

Garud

Rappa

Utterback Meyer Tyre Orlikowski Hauser Hauser Urban Weinberg Meyer Utterback Frankel Pindyck Smith Eppinger Cusumano

Number

Date 74-92 11/92 75-92 11/92 76-92 11/92 T7-92 11/92 78-92 11/92 79-92 12/92 80-92 11/92 81-92 1/92 82-92 2/92 83-92 8/92 84-92 3/92 85-93 1/93

Working

Paper

List(continued)

Tide

An

EmpiricalStudy of ManufacturingFlexibilityinPrinted-CircuitBoardAssembly

Japanese TechnologyManagement: Innovations, Transferability,andthe

Limitations of'Lean'Production

Customer-SatisfactionBasedIncentiveSystems

TheProductFamilyandtheDynamicsofCoreCapability

Multi-ProjectStrategyandOrganizationalCoordiiutionin

Automobile ProductDevelopment

Pattern of IndustrialEvolution: DominantDesignandthe SurvivalofFinns

InnovationfromDifferentiation:PollutionControlDepartments and

Innovationinthe PrintedCircuitIndustry

Answer Garden andtheOrganizationofExpertise

SkipandScan: Qeaning

Up

TelephoneInterfaces

Developing

New

ProductsandServicesbyListening totheVoiceoftheCustomer

A

ComparativeAnalysisofDesign Rationale Representations

RelationalDatainOrganizationalSettings:

An

IntroductoryNoteforUsing

AGNI

and NetgraphstoAnalyzeNodes,Relationships, PartitionsandBoundaries

Au^hpr($) Suarez Cusumano Fine Cusumano Hauser Simester Wemerfelt Meyer Utterback Nobeoka Cusumano Utterback Suarez King Ackerman Resnick Virzi Roberts Lai George Allen

The

International

Center

for

Research

on

the

Management

of

Technology

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Paper

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Form

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